ACHP Episode 533 He Is Upset With Us

Episode Summary

Episode 533 of A Cigar Hustler's Podcast is an unusual one — the crew (Mike Palmer, Mikey, and engineer Phil McGuffey) flat-out announce they aren't reviewing cigars, because the centerpiece is a call-in rebuttal from Ben of the Cigar Coop media team. After a clip from a previous episode featuring RoMa Craft's Skip Martin questioning the objectivity of cigar media panels went viral on Instagram, Ben reached out and was given the floor to respond on air.

The resulting conversation is one of the more candid looks at cigar media politics you'll hear: Ben pushes back hard on the accusation that Cigar Coop inflates reviews for sponsors, arguing that while all reviews are inherently subjective and everyone carries some bias through friendship or sponsorship, calling his team "for sale" crosses a line. The hosts counter with their own grievances — the lack of Powstanie coverage at PCA, the claim that Coop unsubscribed from press releases (Ben says it was only the retail email list), and whether PCA/Cigar Fishing's Guy Fieri interview deserved industry coverage. They retrace the origin of the Coop–Skip feud (a "value cigar" list entry for Mi Amor Fell/Nicaragua-era RoMa Craft), the awkward attempt at reconciliation at a trade show during a Litto Gomez interview, Coop's dislike of hugs, the running Justin Andrews "ban" joke, and Cigar Coop's revamped, clip-first trade show coverage format. The takeaway: nothing gets fully resolved, but both sides agree that picking up the phone beats proxy drama.

Before the interview, the show runs its usual news block — the ongoing Sanford Zoo sloth deaths, an Orlando-area lawsuit against Mitchell's Funeral Home for displaying the wrong body, the WHO declaring the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and Uganda a global health emergency, FBI Director Kash Patel's "VIP snorkel" around the USS Arizona Memorial, the Titanic's final dessert (Punch Romaine), a review of Universal's Epic Universe theme park, and the viral Southbridge, Massachusetts McDonald's "mouth fries" video.

The episode closes with a double "What's the Score?" Tuesday: a 2026 review of the Wildfire Cigar Company Dead Drift (Dominican, Ecuador Habano wrapper) plagued by combustion and funky flavor issues, and a vintage 2011 Charlie Minato review of the Arturo Fuente Opus X Phantom Lancero — a well-constructed but over-aged, muted example that sparks a discussion about how long Opus X really needs in the humidor.

In This Episode

1. 01
   Listener Comments and CH Pod Swag
   The crew reads fan comments, fan art, and pushback over the running "polar bear" bit before plugging chpod.com and Patreon.
2. 02
   News Block: Sloths, Funeral Home Mix-Up and Ebola
   Sanford Zoo sloth deaths, a lawsuit over Mitchell's Funeral Home displaying the wrong body, and the WHO's Ebola emergency declaration in the DRC and Uganda.
3. 03
   Kash Patel's USS Arizona VIP Snorkel
   The hosts shrug at the outrage over the FBI director snorkeling near the Pearl Harbor memorial, noting it's a routine VIP offering.
4. 04
   Titanic's Last Dessert and Epic Universe
   Punch Romaine, the final course served on the Titanic, and a rave review of Universal's Epic Universe rides.
5. 05
   McDonald's "Mouth Fries" Video
   A Southbridge, Massachusetts McDonald's employee faces criminal charges after a viral video of fries going from her mouth back into the carton.
6. 06
   Ben from Cigar Coop Calls In
   Ben responds to Skip Martin's claim that cigar media panels inflate reviews for sponsors, defending his team's integrity.
7. 07
   Bias, Press Releases and PCA Coverage
   A frank debate about subjective reviews, unsubscribed email lists, Powstanie's lack of trade show coverage, and Cigar Coop's new clip-based format.
8. 08
   What's the Score? Wildfire Dead Drift and Opus X Phantom
   Score-guessing on the Wildfire Cigar Company Dead Drift and a 2011 Charlie Minato review of the Arturo Fuente Opus X Phantom Lancero.

Brands & Cigars Discussed

Linked items are in our shop. Mentions without a link aren’t currently stocked or couldn’t be matched with confidence.

Transcript

Welcome to a Cigar Hustler podcast episode 533. I'm Mike Palmer, your host, and in engineering today we have Phil. I don't like mouth fries McGuffey. I have no idea what that means, but hello people's.

And as my co-host Mikey, I'm here eating McDonald's again. Oh, I'm never eating McDonald's again. I'm not? You'll find out shortly.

I don't care if there's humans in there, I'm eating them. Is there humans in it? Yeah. I'm with, I recently got a haircut, Mike Palmer.

Yes, I got a haircut over the weekend. Oh, nice. On today's show, the world takes another one. That's not my mom.

Because who says so? Stone Cold. Yo, is that a WWE reference? No, you just wait and see.

Who so? Six years, that's a long time without sex. Cash Patel gets a VIP bonus. Of course he does.

I'll have dessert, but please, make it fast. Do not eat those fries and then cigars. We're not talking about cigars today, so... Because we got a special...

Special interview. A special interview. Special interview. " Tuesday, double day.

But Mikey, first, how do you get some of that CH Pod swag that you're wearing today? com for all your CH Pod. Maybe that monitor's a bad idea. You like to look at yourself.

Yeah. No, well, the camera is tilted, so I wanted to see what it looked like. Just move your head tilted. And it's not bad.

Just tilt your head. I really need to be a little more like this. Slightly here. There you go.

We might eliminate that second monitor. No, we're keeping it. No. com for all your chpod swag where you get shirts like The Pressure is a Privilege.

Buy one and get the second one 40% off. Spend $100 or more and get free shipping on your order. Ooh. com, Cigar Hustlers Podcast.

A Cigar Hustlers Podcast. I did, it said Cigar Hustlers Podcast. I didn't tell you you said A. I'm sorry, I apologize if you did.

I apologize if you did. What we're reviewing today, we're going to be reviewing the Plasencia, Elmo, Cielo, something or other. The top of the mountain. The top of the mountain.

It's my favorite mountain. Because we don't have the bottom of the soccer field. Not yet. We don't have the soccer field yet.

No. No. There's the volcano, the bottom of the mountain, the top of the mountain, and now the soccer field. Now the soccer field.

Are you getting the soccer field? I'm sure. I have no idea. You've got to ask Greg.

Like and subscribe wherever you're viewing or listening to this show. And some comments. Yes. Yes, comments.

Some comments. Here come the comments. Here comes the boom. Here comes the boom.

From the previous show. Here comes the boom. What is that noise? That's a bomber.

I don't have no noise. It was click clack in his tongue. Well, not click clack in my tongue. I was making the boom.

Oh. Okay. Okay, T-Money 007 says: New idea, everyone who buys a CH-Pod swag item is entered into a drawing for a chance to play what's the score on a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly basis. Oh, I like on a monthly basis.

Okay, maybe. We'll see. I mean, that's 20 what's the scores a month. We could certainly pick one.

Right. Hmm. Epicure & Smoke, at 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Missed opportunity for a Dead Inside of Me reference.

Did you see the AI picture? I saw the poster, yeah. And he put the poster of "Dead Inside of Me" in the background? I did see that, yeah.

" That was very well done. It was, that's quite some detail. I like all the new fan art we've been getting. Yeah, it's really cool.

I was gonna skip this one, but I can't. Can't. T-Money 007 says, "Is Phil a raging alcoholic or does he have that condition where he wakes up not remembering anything prior to the current moment? " It's true, it's so true.

That's the one I thought you weren't going to read. It's so true. That is funny. It's part of the character, T-Money.

No, it's not. No, it's not. It's definitely not. Definitely not.

It's definitely not. It's part of the character. We told him he was having a baby today, he didn't know. " Oh, boy.

David Hoffman4727 says: Oh, the Baywatch guy. He says, "Hasselhoff here. Longtime listener. If you book this Orange County Jail Tour, does it come with tickets for something else?

" CW6383 is kissing Palmer's ass by saying... You leave him alone. He's a very nice man. Love his hair, too.

Very full-bodied hair. Oh, now you like his hair. During my interactions with Mr. Palmer, I believe he communicates exceptionally well.

He is very personable. Thank you very much. Did you text him? He's like, "I feel like sometimes they're just so mean to me.

" Well, apparently, there's only one, but still, it was a very nice thing. You got one guy. I got one guy, but it was very nice what he said. I'd like T-Money to submit something.

T-Money loves me. Datacash didn't even fucking come in and say anything. Oh, that's your mother. No, that's Ruckus Unchained.

Oh, I get so confused. She has so many aliases. Datacash is Paul. Yeah, she forgets her password.

She has to make a new one every week. What was my password? I like that we took Ruckus Unchained and just made him my mother. I put in Greg with three G's, I didn't get in.

I watch this podcast and now they call me mom. Okay, let me see if there's anything else. Spoon, short, the locked doors where people are really upset with the fact that... Oh, somebody's very upset on one of the shorts.

Polar Bear. Yeah, the amount of animosity. It's like, my goodness, guys. Yeah, relax.

I mean. Polar Bear's on attack us? Who was that? What it was, or what?

The Polar Bear comments are getting to be like the no gravity stuff. Some guys said that we're completely racist. So ridiculous. That we're not even joking around about it anymore.

It's not even a joke anymore. They're Polar Bears. They can only be white. Like, I don't, like, okay.

Did you hear that? Yeah. That is why they think we're racist. This is why we get into...

What? What, have you ever seen a black polar bear? Come on, man. Be real here.

That's his favorite bear. The white one is his favorite bear. I didn't make the bear up. Just stop.

Stop. Please. For the love of God. They're gonna show up with pitchforks in the studio.

The amount of flack, like, the abuse that I get. I'm like, I didn't even say that! Like, why are you yelling at me? Oh, man.

You get yelled at for what Skip says. I'm like, what? How do I get yelled at? Hey, hey.

Shh. It's ridiculous. I mean, dude, if you watch like some of these other podcasts, like Bad Friends. Yeah, but that's a comedy podcast.

We're a cigar podcast. We're comedy. We're a nice mix of everything. Yeah.

Yeah, but we're not famous comedians. Yet. We are famous. Yes, you're a, what's that he wants to be?

You're supposed to be a household name. Yeah, your household name. Yeah. Phil McGuffey.

I'm on a five-year plan. Princess Peach. Princess Peach. You're on a five-year plan, it's only taken eight.

Five-year plan. If you want to hear your comment, settle out on the show, the only opportunity you're going to have is if you comment below on this episode, and maybe we will say it out loud. There's some good ones this week, I could tell you that much. There's some good ones.

Yeah, come on, Ruckus. Get in there. Ruckus Unchained. That's right.

Let us know about your favorite child. Why he hasn't been on lately. Just don't call and yell at me again. Let us know about your favorite child.

All right, we're moving on? Yeah, let me tell you what the weight is of this thing, because I've got to smoke this pig. All right. 6 grams in Satoro.

It feels okay. I feel like it's going to weigh in. Oink, oink. All right, we're starting out the show with some bad news.

Oh, here we go. Mr. Ginger, the smallest sloth, died over the weekend. No!

Now the death toll of the sloth massacre is now up to 56. I must have got the count off because this is from the news. Yeah, we jumped up there. Maybe there's a couple that they didn't disclose.

They were like a group, so... Well, there were two on the watch list and those two are doing better. They have improved. So they are no longer in the ICU.

They're in general slothness. You know, you can count on the media to loot data. You know what I mean? Right.

We don't even know. There could just be two sloths dead. I don't think so. There's 75...

You haven't seen the graves? You wait enough? They have graves? Oh, yeah.

No, they don't. Yeah. That's amazing. I don't believe you.

At the zoo. With headstones? Well, they're tiny headstones. They're sloths, for God's sake.

They're tiny headstones? There's a cemetery over behind the zoo where they bury the dead animals. What do you think they do with them? They put them in an incinerator.

Remember how we covered that? That's Sanford Zoo. They don't have one of those. Every zoo is required to have one.

That zoo started because a train broke down there. They just happened to all of a sudden be there. No. Yes.

No. That's how that zoo started? Yeah. That's how the original elephants used to be there?

Does the Sanford Zoo have an incinerator? It's like it's public knowledge. " Yeah, we burn all of 'em. That's probably why people don't like the polar bear thing.

It's PETA. It's working with Chad GPT right now. Oh, okay. Well, I'm gonna move on.

Oh, it's unable to find that information. Told ya. Unable to find the incinerator. It's not there.

Let's make a phone call. It's swampy behind it. They just, you know, put 'em in the swampy. You're lying.

I am not! Yeah. Have you been out there? I know that you're lying.

When is the last time you were out there? I don't believe you. Okay. Because that's, you go ahead and you send me a picture and I'll believe you.

Okay. You know what, I won't believe you. No, yeah, why would you say that? Yeah.

Okay, give me five minutes. Alright, Orange County Funeral Home presented the wrong body during a funeral service. Someone's in trouble. Okay, I can see how that gets mixed up.

According to a lawsuit filed Thursday, so the lady's daughter filed a lawsuit suing the funeral home. Okay. But she didn't know, the daughter. The lady was put out, it's not like at the, let's say it was Edna's funeral, it wasn't at Edna's funeral where Edna wasn't shown, it was at Lori's funeral where Edna was put out.

I'm not following. Oh, so they left the body in the casket? The body in the casket, and they go, okay, so you know, then they raise the casket, and everybody, they came up to say hello, it wasn't Lori in the box, it was Edna. That's not grandma.

So Edna was from the previous show? No, Edna didn't get her funeral yet, Edna was in somebody else's, and Lori ended up at Edna's. Oh, it was like a preview. So they switched the boxes, yes.

The plaintiff in a lawsuit against Mitchell's Funeral Home. Don't go to Mitchell's Funeral Home. What was a mix-up? Yeah, those things can happen.

Does Cart the next one in? What's the problem? Claim the facility presented, displayed, and utilized her mother's body during another family's funeral service without the plaintiff's knowledge or consent. Really?

They're gonna... Is it okay if we put your mom with these other people? We can't find hers. They actually like your mom better.

Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, they like your mom better. Because it's boots and they wanted a white lady, so... The plaintiff alleged that she later learned from local news and other third parties And her mother's body had been wrongfully presented at a separate funeral service intended for another deceased individual.

So she didn't even know it happened. After the fact, Channel 6, whoever did, showed up and goes, "Hi, your mother was at the wrong funeral. " It's not like, you know, they toted her around the room. She just laid there in a box.

It's a mistake. Yeah, close the lid and tell them it's not an open funeral. Right. Give him a discount.

That's not Mr. Jones. Close the lid. Well, but she didn't even pick up on it.

No, right. How do you not pick up on it? Well, she wasn't there with somebody else's. She wasn't privy, yeah, to that.

The lady didn't know that they put her mother at somebody else's funeral. She could have already had her funeral. We don't know. Oh, got it.

I understand. They, like, found an extra person around. " 'Cause you just said before that they switched them. Well, yeah, at this particular point, but that doesn't mean they didn't already have the other lady's funeral, they just...

Mixed them up. Mixed them up. Most common mistakes are mistakes that involve the deposition of actual remains and not necessarily the service. So after the fact, they give you the wrong urn.

But you don't know. No, no idea. No idea. It's like getting the wrong baby.

You don't know at first. You might know. Not at first, maybe. Didn't we do a whole story about that?

Those people in Altamont didn't even notice at first. You see? Phil does remember some things. 'Cause it was a racial thing, that's why I said something.

Wow. Yeah. Or Tavius Simone, an attorney who specializes in funeral service law, who knew there was a thing, it's funeral service law? Who'd have knew that was a thing?

Who knows? Although shocking, Simone said that a lawsuit such as this would have a better chance of succeeding if the plaintiff were able to prove that either her emotional distress manifested itself in a physical way, or if the funeral home staff acted with intentional conduct. Right. So, this is just a pointless lawsuit.

Yeah, it's ridiculous. It made the news, too. That's even sadder. Who cares?

This is a mix-up. The lawsuit is the second one alleging Mitchell's funeral home of neglect conducted during May of 2024. This isn't the first time these people have made a mistake. Must be a new guy.

Yeah, he's like, You know what I'm saying? Hey, Frank, which name tag does this go on? I don't know. The one on the left.

Oh, man. The one on the right? No, the one on the left. Which right?

You know, hold up your fingers, Frank, we told you, can you make the L is the left, and the other one is the right. Okay, then go over here. You know I got those weird fingers. I had that, I had that conversation with like a fifth grader.

The L and the R? Yeah. Oh, I thought you meant, I thought you meant they put his mother in the wrong room. It's amazing, this fifth grader's mom was in the wrong room.

I'm like, how do you not know what left and right is? What grade are you in? He goes, fifth. I'm like, serious?

Let me see your shoes. Who's got a Sharpie? Yeah. You know, maybe he was just Palmering me.

Maybe. Yeah. But you bought it. You did.

Believable. " The coach is an idiot. The coach is so stupid. And he gave me five dumb-dumbs.

Yeah. He said he felt bad for me. Because of the four siblings I told them that I have, but I don't have any. I'm an only child.

And I'm a genius. I know left and right. Come on, I do my parents' taxes. Yeah, I do my parents' taxes.

A lawsuit filed last year claim the, in anticipation of the plaintiff's funeral, the funeral home presented the incorrect body to them also. So they, apparently this is a thing that happened. Wow. It might be like a gag they did.

I didn't know this was a gag. I don't think it's a gag. Maybe they're, allegedly, maybe they're drinkers and they're like, you know, put that body over there, let's see what happens. Maybe they're drinkers.

That's what I said. That's, I understand. Oh. They continue to convey false claims that the body was the plaintiff's mother, so they tried to convince them.

Mm-hmm . No, look at the left eye. No, no, that's her. The makeup.

She just looks different. She's just squint and weird. I mean, she's dead, for God's sakes. What do you want?

Though both statements and actions sought to convince plaintiffs that the body was that of their mother, the lawsuit stated. Oh. Mm. Yeah, take that monitor down.

This is good. Let me see it again. Oh, much better. Look at that.

Now you've got to sit on a booster. No, I don't. You're all scooched up. You're all scooched up.

I'm fine. It's not that important. Except my jacket keeps sitting. Stop looking at that monitor.

Take that monitor down. Oh, no. I think I look fine. My hair.

Is the hair okay? Oh, is that how I sound? Is there a shine? Is there a shine on my hair?

Is that how I sound? Yes, exactly. That's exactly how I sound. The WHO declares the Ebola outbreak is a global health emergency.

Oh, no. Now it's Ebola! Oh, it's not Hanta? No, we have an update on that, too.

Hanta didn't catch. The Hanta didn't track. So they had to bring a new one out, nobody really paid attention to the Hanta. Except it is in Canada, though.

Oh, yeah? But that's not the update. That's okay, they have good medical. Yeah, that's true.

Just a day after the announcement, cases were confirmed in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Buddha. Sorry. I didn't even think about the races, though.

- I just thought saying the names would be funny. There's no approved vaccine for the species of Ebola. Apparently there's more than one Ebola. - Is there?

- Yes. The World Health Organization, or the WHO, declared on Saturday that the spread of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda was a global health emergency. The announcement was made a day after Africa's leading public health authority reported that an outbreak in a province in the northeast of the country was linked to dozens of suspected deaths. Okay.

Nobody cares. Ebola's the flesh-eating virus. It's pretty nasty. I don't care.

You're not going to Uganda or the Congo any time soon? No. No. No.

I don't care. By Saturday, the case has also been confirmed in Kenesha, Congo and Kampala. Fast forward. Uganda, capital city of each country, the who said?

Ebola. Got it. And Congo's the Kuri province. 246 people have Ebola.

Is that the population of all those places combined? I don't care. No. Moving on, there's seven people that don't have it.

I went to Epic Universe. Oh. Do they have the Ebola there? No Ebola.

There's no Wakanda there. It's not in Wakanda. They're flying in Wakanda. I went to Epic Universe.

I don't even know what that is. Universal's new theme park. Was the Mario one shut down? No.

It was working. They said they've been having a lot of issues. Did you go in the new Soarin'? There's no new Soarin.

There is, but it's a Disney. Yeah. No. It's not at Universal.

I understand that. I'm going to tell you. It's an incredible theme park. You like it.

I don't have that story here. I don't care, because you're talking about Ebola and I don't care. It is an amazing theme park. Yes?

Oh my God. What was the best ride? Oh my God, don't make me pick. We're making you pick.

Stardust was probably the best ride. Really? Yeah. Is that a drug thing?

Wow. Yes. Stardust was incredible. There's a "How to Train Your Dragon" roller coaster that's incredible.

Everything's incredible? Yeah. Yeah. Just the Yoshi one was not good, but that one's for like little kids.

Oh, so you didn't like that one? The Yoshi one's really small and simple. Is it 'cause you think it's for little kids 'cause the seats were smaller? No.

You didn't fit in the seat? The ride in general felt like very "It's a Small World", but very small. Oh. So you just ride through it, these animatronic things sing?

Kind of. The Donkey Kong ride was incredible. Oh, did you have Jump Over Barrels? Did you have jump over barrels?

Yes. The Mario Kart ride was incredible. Did you get to throw mushrooms? The Mario Kart ride.

You get to shoot turtles. What do they have against turtles? Because that's the things you shoot. Have you guys seen that medical study where they say that the highest case of anxiety has been linked to Mario Kart?

That's incredible. I can tell you that this Mario Kart was awesome. What is with this incredible word today? I don't know.

Did you watch the Incredibles over the weekend? No, he read a book. He read a book. The Dark Universe was amazing.

Is it scary? Is it dark? No. They have like this werewolf rollercoaster, which is badass.

Was it scary? A lot of rollercoasters, huh? Yeah. Was it dark and scary?

They have this, they have like a Frankenstein ride thing. Ooh. Monster ride. Awesome.

An epic universe? Wait, that's separate from the werewolf? Yeah. So Tatawai has its own rollercoasters now.

The Harry Potter ride was, I mean like all of it was amazing. The Harry Potter ride. Yeah. They have a new Harry Potter ride?

Yeah. Did they take one of the others down? No. They just made it bigger.

It's on a new theme park. Oh. Everybody loves Harry Potter, Palmer. They're gonna make, they should just make the whole place Harry Potter.

Well, I thought they were taking the school down or something and building something else. They're taking the school down and building a roller coaster? Maybe. Yeah, I thought I heard that a couple of years ago.

No. Oh. The school's gotta stay. It's for educational purposes.

What's crazy is that they just built that epic place. that's what he's talking about they've already got like three other sections yeah ready to go i know it's incredible it's epic it is oh that was incredible dude i'm telling you we all had a great time like everybody i was with had a great time nice yeah i highly recommend going i highly recommend going palmer did you go no i wasn't ready were you invited did you uh no no no no No, you didn't go either. No. I remember one time when we were.

That one time we all went together that one time. It was a great time. Remember the pictures we had in front of the Christmas tree and everything? Yeah.

I still have those. Oh, I'm not talking about that one. There was another time we all went to Universal just to ride the rides and stuff. You don't have your passes anymore.

So? How are you going to get in? It's because you stopped inviting us going. We didn't see any need to take it.

We don't want to go by ourselves all the time. It's just two of us. Why not? It's just two of us.

You're invited. Well, I gave up the passes now, it's a little pointless. There you go. He would have just said something before.

Like, some of the wait times on the rides are really long, but… Incredible. What was… Some of the wait times… Incredible wait times. Some of the wait times and some of the other ones are really small. What was the longest wait time?

I think, like, 90 minutes. That's just ridiculous. Did you wait 90 minutes? No.

Oh, okay then. Are they like Disney, where Disney says that the wait times aren't in real time? It's just to make you either go on the ride or not go on the ride? No.

Because, you know, like, they'll never put a zero wait time. You mean those five minutes? I've seen zero wait times at Universal. Well, at Disney, they say if it's a zero wait time, that means the ride's shut down.

Oh. So they put a ten minute. Nobody want a ride. Yeah.

Hmm. It's an amazing theme park. That's all I'm saying. It is nice, yeah.

Like, I highly recommend it. I highly recommend this thing. I highly recommend it. Incredible.

It's incredible. Epic. Do they sell the shirts that says, "That's Incredible"? No.

Do you remember that TV show, "That's Incredible"? No. Really? Uh-uh.

What was that, 1952? The '70s? The '70s? No, it was in the '80s, probably.

Yeah, it was what? " I was just born. I was born in '84. He was born in '86.

Seven. Oh, there are reruns. There's a whole channel called Naked Night that shows stuff from the '80s. They don't have Naked Night anymore.

That's gone. They used to. All the good stuff's gone. That's not incredible.

Do you know what else is gone? Black and whites? Sloth cemeteries. Talkies?

They got rid of them. No, there's one that's very full, 56 little headstones. It's like a little memorial. Yep.

They have their own wing, their own little section. They're going to make a sloth universe. Over past where they buried the elephants. Oh my god.

Okay, next story. More Hootie Hootie virus news. Hootie Hootie! They have now found that the virus can live for six years in part of the male body.

What part? The sperm. So you heard the story too? No.

No, we just know you. Oh. They can live in an effective man's sperm for up to six years where he can infect people he has sex with for the entire six years. It's just sitting there in there?

It just sits in your testicles. Sits in the sperm. Yep. I mean, considering they just found it, I don't know how they know it lasts for six years.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's been around for a while. That guy hadn't done his business in six years? No, you can do your business every day.

It sits in there. And it still stays in there? On the, uh, you know, the last of the sixth day, and then... It stays in the bowls.

Stays in the bowls. Stays in the bowls. And then the next day, you're good. Hanta.

Hanta virus. Gone. After six years. You've been cleared.

Right. Mm. Incredible. Incredible.

That's incredible. Okay. All right, Kash Patel's in trouble. What did he do?

Director of the CIA? Mm-hmm. FBI, whatever it is. Mm-hmm.

He's a scrutiny over snorkeling on a snorkeling outing at the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii. It was an outrage. He was snorkeling? So what's the problem?

He was snorkeling over the graveyard. He wanted to see him. How was he going to see him? Well, it's not like it's open to the public.

But he wanted to see. He's the FBI guy. That doesn't give him access to something that's owned by the Department of the Navy. What it doesn't do is give him access to signal on an Apple phone, but apparently it gives him access to...

Well, now you can. Now you can? Oh, the FBI. Yeah, right.

The FBI director, Cash Patel, is facing news scrutiny following the report that he participated in a snorkeling excursion around the USS Arizona during a trip to Hawaii last summer. From Pearl Harbor? Yes, Pearl Harbor. Yes, the one that has the memorial over it.

You want to see the boat? You can see the boat from the memorial. I want to go swimming. With the dead bodies?

Sounds like he wasn't the only one, though. Well, there were nine people in his party, But they're not releasing the names of the other nine people. Yeah, Bill, Hillary, they're not allowed to be released. There's so many judgy people on social media.

You know what I mean? Like, you got time to chime in on this? I mean, come on. Right.

Well, you know, they wouldn't complain. Let's talk about straight of Hormuz. I mean, give me something more legit. Yeah, who cares about this thing?

China agreed that they should be open, too. China said that should be open. They should be open? Yeah, that's what they told Trump when he was there.

That's great. Except they said it with an accent. Or through an interpreter. Oh, yeah?

Is that we agree? We don't really know what they said. Yeah. You tell him that I, you tell him that I blew that thing up, and it's staying close.

You tell him that he's a piece of garbage, and I can't send him. " "America number one," he says. Associated Press obtained government emails describing the excursion as a VIP snorkel around the USS Arizona. S.

Navy sailors and marines who died at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Mhm. I expected you guys to be more excited. I'm a little disappointed.

Well, it's sad. Cuba Gooding died in that whole thing, really? No, he didn't. Oh, yeah, he lived.

He lived. He was the swimmer. There was a whole different movie. Yeah.

Oh, yeah, he shot down the airplane. He shot down the airplane. And then dot, dot, dot, he's done. With Ben Affleck and that other guy.

Okay, Cordy, this is something they give to VIPs all the time. I thought you guys were going to be more upset and I was going to take the other point. Floating in the pool? Floating in the ocean?

Looking at the memorial? It's not in the ocean, it's in the harbor. And it's in a separate little closed up area. Floating in.

Let's say we were upset. What was your reaction? The outing was coordinated by the military and took place in August during a two day stop in Hawaii. Hold on, I'm outraged.

I just don't care. It's not incredible. It's open to all VIPs. It's something they give you when you're a big guy.

- That's a big deal. - You can do it all the time. And now somebody called-- - Well, like, we couldn't do it. - Right.

- But a director of the FBI, an ex-president. - Right. - And be a senator. - But we're VIPs.

- Huh? - We're VIPs. - You're not even-- - And now there's outrage. You know what I mean?

See, this is the shit I'm talking about. Like, I don't have the time for this. I don't have the energy for it. Like, what do you get?

You know? - Well, he stopped there to see the FBI Honolulu office. - Yeah. - And then they, "Oh, as long as you're here, Mr.

Patel, Would you... Like to come see the memorial? Like to swim with the dead people. Yeah.

And be on Hawaii Five-0. And you're only allowed to do it for 30 minutes. If not, you get possessed? No, they drag you out by your snorkel.

The dolphins come in? Yeah, the dolphins. Right. The missing 17, that's where they're at.

Within 30 minutes, if you do not exit the harbor, you're going to be... Right. The dolphins are going to interact. So, spokesman added that the Department of Defense routinely does these engagements with...

And said that when Patel was Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense in Trump's first administration, he offered the same event for many partners that came to visit. Alright. Alright, speaking of ships that sank. Yeah.

More Titanic details, a century of its voyage, have come to light. Among the last courses to grace the tables was a palate-cleansing dish that falls somewhere between a cocktail and a dessert known as punch romaine. Now, the ingredients for this is not hard to come by. I can have Jimmy come on the show and make it.

Okay. You guys want to try the last thing people ate on the Titanic? What was it? Ate?

It's a dessert. Punch a la Romaine, translated into English as "Roman Punch". Why would Jimmy make it? It's a frozen, because Jimmy's a bartender, and I know he knows how to make this by what the ingredients are.

You said it was food, though. It is a frozen dessert. Is it non-alcoholic? Is it alcoholic?

No, it's alcoholic. I don't want any part of it. Why? Wait, maybe it's not, hold on.

Because then I'm going to get drunk and tell you how I really feel. Mmm. Yeah, it has rum and wine in it. Mmm.

Hide the rum. Sure, I'm in. Egg whites, rum, wine, citrus juice, cocktail shaker, sweetened with simple syrup. Pretty easy.

Sounds simple. That's boring. Well, supposedly it's delicious. It's like a frozen lemonade.

It certainly is frozen. Yes. What do you mean by that? Well, Titanic sank.

Ah, yes. Then it's shaken until frothy and strained over crushed ice. For an extra hint of luxury, the final product is topped with champagne. Of course it is.

Trying to fill time here, guys. Well, good for you. We're at 30 minutes and we can just move on. I believe this might be the last story.

Is it? Okay, we'll close it out. Alright, it sank. We're out of here.

See ya. Now we're gonna go to our clip. No, no, we gotta do this one story. It's a fun story.

Otherwise, the beginning of the intro is completely pointless. Alright, what's the story? Okay, hurry up. McDonald's worker behind revolting french fry video to face criminal charges.

In trouble. " And then she shoved all the fries in her mouth and then spit them into the cup. Got 'em. Into the french fry.

Oh my God. I'll teach you to order a small. She put the fries from her mouth back in the box, was only to serve customers at the restaurant. After the video went viral last week, Southbridge police said investigators and officials from the Board of Health were reviewing the incident.

We are also working to determine whether the food was ultimately served to a customer and to identify any individual who may have been affected by the mouth fries. No. I saw the video. I gagged.

It was bad. Well, the idea that you might have gotten those fries after, you know, so she shoves about them in her mouth and then holds the little, you know, the McDonald's thing. They put the fries in and go blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Spits them all back in the cup.

So this is like, but they're already cooked? Yeah. Yeah, she like grabs a handful out of the little fry bucket thing, you know. Yeah.

Throws them in her mouth instead of in the holder and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But you would know there was something. She didn't chew them, they just went in her mouth and then back out. So they were non-salty.

She licked all the salt off. Well, she didn't lick them, but she put them in her mouth. Mmm. I knew they were so well with you.

Yeah, I gagged a little while I watched this video. I'm like, oh, blah, blah, blah. Ugh. No.

Where's is that? Uh, Southbridge, Massachusetts. Oh, we're fine. Police didn't, well, it doesn't mean it doesn't happen here.

Hey, that's a great idea. We should do it over here at the one by the cigar shop. No, we're Florida. We have normal people here.

Uh, no, no. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Didn't we have one no longer where a guy was stuffing all over the lettuce and then putting it in burgers or something? Yeah, we have, like, weird, we have super weird people.

I don't know. Speaking of food, though, our Little Debbie's Exposed episode is doing well from Saturday. Yes, it is doing well. Police did not say what charges a woman would face.

The nauseating scene brought immediate backlash to the restaurant with its owners, the Spadilla and Baladuce family, stuck on damage control. The actions of these individuals are unacceptable and do not reflect our organization's food safety standards and values. We conduct an eternal review, they are no longer employed by our organization, because there was another girl in the back egging her on. The owner said in a joint statement, "We are proactively working with local authorities and the local health department, who found no public, or found no public health concerns or violations, the well-being and safety of our South British community reigns are our top priority.

Nothing to see here, everything's fine, carry on, carry on. Nobody ate those, nobody ate those at all. Everything's perfectly fine. Those last names, that's how you think those guys sounded?

No, but I didn't want to sound racist like you. Yeah, dude. Come on, stop. Dude, they sound like mafia guys.

Well, if they are, this lady has disappeared now. Hey, yo. Yeah, exactly. We are sorry.

Yeah, we're very sorry somebody put the fries in her mouth. Yeah, don't open the trunk. -We cannot prove this lady who used to be here. -You can't prove a thing?

You saw nothing. -Yeah. -Does that make you happy? -Massachusetts, Spanelli.

-And her little friend? She gone too. -Yeah. -I thought it was an Irish mob in Boston.

-I don't know, maybe. -I'm not doing another accent. I've already done Chinese and now mobsters. -Whitey Bulger.

-Why are you going off of the Departed? -Yeah. -Oh, Departed. -Yeah.

All right, now we're cutting to our, uh, our, uh, interview, uh, please, uh, enjoy it, sorry. We had Skip on the show, and he made a comment about, uh, bias in other media panels, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay, I remember. Okay, so, so, ironically, you know, I had a short clip that had one of those things, right, and, for one that, you know, obviously they don't watch the show, but they caught the short clip, So, people got upset.

All right. So, I got an email. Oh, an email. That was the first one.

And they said that it wasn't, the subject line said Coop. And then they went into detail about what their issue was with the post. And I said, okay, well, you know, I thought that they were talking more towards Coop instead of what was said. So I'm like, okay, well, listen, you know, look, Coop can call me anytime.

I don't have a hard time with Coop. I have nothing against Coop. I've tried to talk with Coop. Coop doesn't want to talk to me.

Right. Several times. So I said, okay. But, you know, then I was like, but if you're really upset about it and you're offended of it, you're my friend, I'll just take it down.

So I took it down on Instagram. Then I got a message, I got a text today from Ben. So that's not who you got the email from? No.

Okay. No, I don't want to disclose that person. No, no. I respect that person.

Okay. So I got a text from Ben, and he's like, "Hey, this isn't fair. " And he wanted to kind of defend himself. So I'm gonna give Ben the opportunity to kind of get on the phone.

Is he representing himself or the entire organization? Well, let's just wait and see how this plays out, buddy. You act like I'm not prepared, right? But I love Ben.

I had the answer. Ben is an amazing guy. I like Ben. I don't have a problem with Ben.

He's a great, great person. Yes. So. So he wants to rebuttal?

Uh, yeah, I think that he, he deserves that. Well, I didn't say he didn't. We just don't get many requests for that. After I spoke to him, I said, "Hey, you should just come on the show.

Let me move this phone a little bit closer to here. " Because it was a little bubbly less. Hey. Hey, Ben, you're on the show.

Hey, Ben. So... What's going on? What's up, buddy?

So, hey, listen. We had a light conversation before. You know, you're upset about some things that Skip said, and I wanted to kind of give you a platform so that you could have the opportunity to say what you wanted to say. So, go ahead.

The floor is yours. The floor is yours, my friend. - Yeah, I mean, so the clip that y'all posted, it pretty much irritated me. I, you know, Skip and I have always, we've known each other for a very, very long time.

And, you know, we always kind of talk shit back and forth to each other. But when you get to the point to where you call out the integrity of our team, including me, that really pisses me off. Because at that point, you're telling me I'm for sale and whatever my views are, are not mine, but they're skewed by somebody supposedly paying me, and to say that we inflate reviews for our sponsors or because we get paid to inflate them is 100% total bullshit, and I take offense to that. Okay.

And dude, you know, I respect that. I mean, you know, you still love Romacraft cigars, you still smoke Romacraft, you still smoke our stuff. Yes, I do. Yes.

And that makes total sense to me. Here's the unfortunate part. Here's the problem, here's the issue with the whole thing, right? When the statement is that someone is completely unbiased, right?

And, you know, the post that you're talking about, I didn't say anything. I didn't make any comments on it. This was Skip's perspective and, you know, I love Skip, I respect Skip, and he's entitled to his own opinions, as anybody is, so, you know, however... Yeah, you can't control what somebody else says.

Right, however, you know, I caught flack for it being a post, whatever. Here's the problem. The problem is that when you're directly affiliated with the person who unsubscribes from media press, who completely ignores the things that we do, The unfortunate part is again and again and again, I have gone out of my way to try and make amends with this guy. And again, here is a post that has upset him, and instead of him calling, he doesn't.

Other people call on his behalf, you know, where all he has to do is understand that all I'm trying to do is help him. I'm trying to get him to understand that, you know, look, for one, I didn't even know about that post. Like, it was part of an automated thing and whatever. Had I known about it, would I still post it?

Probably. It just wouldn't have said the curse words. What? You gotta say something?

No, no. But, but the fact of the matter is that, look, I explained it to Coop before, like, you know, I didn't like the fact that he didn't cover Guy Fieri, and this PCA he did. So, like, if he's gonna be, if he's gonna be, like, if he wants to be upset and cost our friendship, but he's gonna do things better in the cigar industry, then so be it. It is what it is.

I would much rather that and see progress in this industry than him and I be friends, but, you know, I want what's best for Coop. You know, we all want what's best for this industry, and, you know, unfortunately, he is biased on the things that he does, and that's, look, we're all a little biased, there's no way around that. Nobody here is holier than thou, right? Like, there isn't one.

There's still gonna be some type of bias, whether it's through sponsorship, or through friendship and relationship, you know, you're, but I would think, I would hope that it's true. I hope that it would be less when, you know what, Coop doesn't like me, but damn, it's a good cigar, and he says, hey, listen, this is, you know, I'm gonna cover this press release or whatever, but if he doesn't, he doesn't. The problem is now that it's expanding to a point where the other people that are with him are directly involved, and, you know, maybe, you know, I don't know if that's real. - Yeah, but this, okay, so you've made about 30 different talking points in what you just said.

So let me break this down one by one. - Go ahead, Ben. - First off, he said he did not unsubscribe from your PR release email, just a shop one. And I've done this before, too.

We get so many emails from shops, just, you know, the sales emails and all that. So he unsubscribe from a whole bunch of shop ones. I'm just sure it's a bunch of, a bunch of, 'cause you stood up in the mailbox. - Okay.

- I totally get that, 'cause I do it all the time, but not your PR one. - Okay. - So, I'm looking at the site now, dude, and he posted about Pistania Sumatra debuting at the Crate Show on April. And then on February, he posted a review about the SPC 24, and then a press release in January about the San Andreas Corona Gorda, Which you'll see a couple days on the site again, too, for me, 'cause I'm reviewing it.

- Okay. - So I don't know, what is, what is he not posting? Was there something not on there? - So if he's not, so if that's the case, right?

And the fact is that if he's still covering all these things, whether he, let's say I'm wrong, let's say I'm wrong, and he unsubscribed from the retail site, right? - Yes. - When I make the comment of, hey, you unsubscribed from media, Why wouldn't you bother just saying, "Hey, no, that's incorrect. I unsubscribed from this," instead of just letting it, not trying to correct the issue?

I have no idea. I can't speak on that part. I can just, I can only do what I know firsthand and I see myself. Right, so how does that make sense?

How does that make sense? How does that make sense? I don't know. I don't know, but the whole point is you're not, we get your press releases if you send them and we post them.

That's the facts right there. Now, as for Roma Crafts, they don't send anything out. There's nothing to post. We don't get anything from them.

And we don't have the cycles to go and hunt this stuff down and contact everybody constantly. We all work full-time. This is a hobby of love. I work three damn jobs seven days a week since September.

I can't hunt people down for shit. So, I mean, you send a press release, it'll go up. - That's just the way it is. - Okay.

- Now, let's go back, Cigar Fishing, or did the Gaffey anything? Me and you have talked about this. - Mm-hmm. - What the hell is the point of us covering that anyway?

Why didn't Cigar Fishing not have covered their own damn thing? Why is it up to us to cover that? I understand your viewpoint of it. I disagree that we need to be talking, acknowledging about the damn thing.

And I wouldn't have covered it this time either. That's my personal, the Bentley, that is my personal view on it. I'm not as part of the Cigar King Coalition. Right.

That's their press thing. If we did an interview with Guy Fieri on the stage, I wouldn't expect them to cover it in their magazine either. Or anybody else. I wouldn't expect anybody to cover it because it's our thing.

That's their thing. They should cover it. And they didn't do that either. That wasn't even up on their website or in their magazine or nothing.

Right. So it's not our job to be their press when they are press. You know what I'm saying? That's my viewpoint on that.

So, now I can't remember the other points. Okay, you know, I mean, there's 30 of them. You got 28 more to go, Ben. You know, look, going back to that, and that's kind of beating a dead horse, the reality is that, for me, it's still the PCA, it's still the opening show, whether it's sponsored or not sponsored by Aficionado, the more coverage, the more exposure, the better.

But hey, whatever, we're gonna agree to disagree on that one and just kind of move on. Right. Your viewpoint is totally valid. I understand it.

It's just the coverage is the, is what I, you know, they should cover their own stuff while we cover our stuff. And that's just is what it is. Okay. So the other, I remember one of the other main points was, we're talking about this stuff going on, is this goes back with Skip years ago when he went on this massive rant on Facebook, and he basically kind of much called us all trash.

trash we don't know what we're doing we suck at what we do we're paid shills and all this and he's continuing on and on it's like he's got a coop finish it's freaking weird nobody ever talks about it except for him he constantly brings it every chance he gets which is to me is weird i still i still love skip i don't i still cause him a friend but if you do if you do something you know meatheaded i'm gonna call it out i will tell you that you're acting like a meathead Like, what the hell? Right? So, and I've said my piece. He still keeps doing it.

Whatever. I just ignore it at this point. We all just ignore it. You know?

Until I post it. Because you put it right back out there again. Then we no longer ignore it. Right, because it's back out there again, and you know, everybody sees it.

It's like, like I said, if he doesn't like our reviews, that's fine. Right. Right. Because like you said, this is all subjective.

Our reviews are subjective. Every review is subjective. Right. And when I rate a cigar, or I talk about a cigar, that's for my personal palate.

Right. Like, I review stuff that I know is a great, excellent cigar, well-built, quality tobacco. It has flavors, but it might not be what my personal taste purposes are. Right.

And I want to mention that in my reviews, saying this is not particularly something I care for. It's a great cigar dose, so if you like this and this and this, you should go check this out. So it's all subjective. Everything is subjective when we deal with this kind of stuff, right?

- Yeah. - But if Coop decides he's being personally attacked constantly, he doesn't want to, basically, us do free advertising for a company, then that's his choice. - Right. And that's fine, but that's bias.

- Yeah. It is bias. Everything we do is bias. - Correct, okay.

Like I just said, our cigar reviews are biased, everything is biased, because it's all based on our personal preferences and tastes. All right. So, yeah. So, let me just get two points across, and then we can, you can go back to your 75 jobs, because I know that you work your ass off, dude.

But, let me say a couple, two things. Number one is, I believe that the whole reason why the Coop skip thing started was because Coop posted "Value Cigar" mirror fell. Right? And I understand Skip or Coop's point as to why he feels it's a value cigar, and I understand Skip's point as to why it doesn't belong on the value cigar thing that Coop built.

And what had happened was, right? So Skip was criticizing Coop, and then Coop got pissed off, and then boom, explosion, right? Now, when Skip tried to rectify, I don't know, I wasn't there. I don't know how it went down.

I don't know if Coop was in an interview or not or whatever, but then it got even worse. Yeah, I was there. Okay. That's a hello thing.

So then it got even worse, right? But again, here's the problem. It's the same problem that happens every single time. We don't get, no one gets to have a resolve because Coop never wants to have a conversation with anybody.

Coop never wants to rectify it. He just rather digs deep. Well, guess what? Well, Skip's going to dig deep too.

If you're not gonna if you're not gonna sort it all out he's gonna go and he's gonna chime in and he's gonna make comments right like all of this can be resolved yeah Coop just picks up the goddamn phone and work some things out if he doesn't then you're right you have to continue to ignore it but continuing to ignore it means that a post comes up and you keep it moving you don't say anything about it it is what it is and you keep it moving so like right it's just it's got to be one of the other it It can't be Coop not calling and everybody else calling me about the fact that Coop is upset. Like, that's the most childish bullshit I've ever seen. If I have a problem with somebody, I pick up the goddamn phone. Ben, if you have a problem, guess what you do?

You pick up the phone, you call the person, you text the person, right? - Right, that's, yeah, 'cause I don't, one, I don't like, I drama, drama drives me nuts. - It's not worth it! - So, like this morning, what did I do?

" That was my viewpoint, and then we had a conversation, and I feel a thousand times better about it, and I would assume you kind of would see the viewpoint too of that, but I agree with that, I wish, so okay, let's go back to where you're talking about, we could skip post that, so that was like a four hour long Facebook discussion, and it's, so it's really hard when you're on Facebook, or even text, to understand like what somebody's trying to get across you know how that how they mean it or whatever right like i said i i like talking shit to my friends we all do we go back and forth we banter like that who doesn't like that that's his personality so i don't do that with coop right and i know i can say when i'm reading coops posts i mean uh skip stuff in my head i'm just like i'm having a conversation with you face to face so when he posts something i know if he He's trying to be funny, or he's trying to be mean, you know, because I always say there's two, there's two Skip Martins, there's Skip Martin, and there's Facebook Skip Martin, and there are two, it's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of thing, so I know to take everything he posts with a grain of salt, you know, usually on Facebook, right, but that guy, he went, he went nuts on that, right, I agree with that, the mayor fell, I understand Coop's point on it, why he put it on there, it's his list, he could do whatever the hell he wants with it, and I understand exactly what Skip was saying, Would I put that on my list? No, I wouldn't have.

But it's his list. He wanted to do with it and he explained it. And then once Skip went crazy about it on Facebook, I personally went on there and I said, "I know what you mean. " And then Skip kept going on and on, hammering about it, even though we would try to explain it and talked about it, he just got further and further crazy with it.

And I just, screw this. And I just stopped. I just stopped dealing with it. Right?

So there's only so much you could do. Would I wish, you know, Coop would talk to him about it? Yeah. So when we're at the trade show later, we're interviewing Lito Gomez.

We're in the middle of interviewing Lito, right? And Tony. So, and then Skip walks up in the middle of us trying to do this interview, trying to talk to Coop. That's not the time.

We're in the middle of doing something. You know? Right. And Coop said, not now, not at the time, not now.

And it kept on and on and on, trying to hug you and all that shit, which is another thing. Coop doesn't like hugs. He doesn't like people touching on it. But you don't know that, right?

So he doesn't care for that, right? So he, of course, Skip's not going to know that. He don't know that. But he's like, no, not now, not another time.

And then he got kind of pissed off about it. Skip got kind of pissed off about it because he wouldn't talk to him. But that's, it was just, at that moment, we're in the middle of a major interview with Lito. - Okay.

- You know, we're trying to do some work here. That's why that didn't work well that time. That was the reason. And I was standing around thinking, I'm pulling the camera.

So, I mean, I'm watching, I'm trying to watch Lito, watch this going on beside me. And it was, you know, anyway, it was just not a good time. - Right, but- - And then there were, and then once I try after that. - Right, but again, after, afterwards, after that had gone down, And Coop could have picked up the phone and said, hey, like, walked over to the booth, or said, yeah, hey, like that was, I got five minutes now.

Would you like to hug me and explain this to me? Like, can we, we ready to hash this out? No, instead, the, this is the same thing that happens over and over and over again. Well, we were all sitting there in the media house two years ago, and we found out Justin Andrews had been on a two year ban.

Yeah, a ban, a super secret ban from the media. Oh, that's, yeah, but I, I've been adjusted all the time, almost so. Yeah, but he, Well, Coop means it, Joe. You don't really, 'cause Coop's the one I got.

That was Justin, yeah. " Oh, yeah. That was, that's, that was the, I banned Justin, 'cause he was, anyway, it's a big joke between me and Justin, but it's Justin, it's a long story, anyway. But yeah, 'cause I give Justin tons of shit.

One, he killed off one of my favorite cigar lines, the Balmoral, and I'm never forgetting for it, so, and I'm constantly ragging on him all the time. The Justin thing is a giant joke. It's not a true ban or nothing like that. It was a huge joke.

Justin just never would show up anyway. He would say he would come and he wouldn't show up. Anyway, that's a whole separate thing. The other point is, is Skip's phone broke?

He's got a cell phone, doesn't he? I'm pretty sure he's got a cell phone. It goes two ways. It goes two ways.

I agree. I totally agree. And so here's the thing too. If I say something about you and I know of offended you, it's on me to reach out to you to make it right, not the other way around, right?

Okay. So I would expect Skip to reach out to Coop, call him, and talk about it. Okay, but this is where this gets kind of murky, right? Because he did try and reach out in that scenario.

He didn't think he did anything wrong, right? And all that did was just make the whole situation worse. So at some point, somebody's got to be an adult here and figure this out, right? But, you know, like if I'm going to go tick for tack and look at the entire scenario, then I say, okay, well, he tried to extend, it didn't work out, then I would look at Coop in that scenario, right?

Or if it was the other way around, I would say, you know, if Skip was offended by Coop, then Skip needed to reach out. So, you know, for me, the way that I see how this has played out, at this current juncture, like, Coop's gotta, Coop's gotta pick up the phone because he's notorious for doing this, this isn't the first time, it's a habitual thing, and you know that that's true, whenever something upsets him, he never ever deals with it, instead, other people try and deal with it for him, like, that's, that's not okay. Well, okay, first off, let me say, Coop never mentioned anything when I reached out to you. That was on my own volition.

I had an issue with that part of Skip. The only part I had an issue with was Skip calling into, you know, saying, you know, we're shields. That's what I, and I, that's why I text you this morning. Coop didn't ask me to do that.

He doesn't do that. He won't ever do that. And Coop doesn't tell us what we can, like, he doesn't tell me what I can do. He doesn't tell any of the other guys like Bear, Tripp, and Dennis who you could have on the show or not have on the show, none of that, like, because as soon as all that happened, Mike Rosales was on Bear's show being the athletes, you know, so I mean, that's, that's never, it's never like that, if I reach out, it's, it's on me, okay, but, you know, like, I got zero coverage at PCA, bro, you can tell me that that's because I'm not friends with Bear, I'm friends with Bear.

So this year we completely revamped how we cover it with all the media, because it's become overwhelming, you can't go to every booth and record video and interviews, it's just, it's impossible now, there's too much to cover, and when we get back home, Coop and I, I have to edit all those videos, and Coop got to do all the write-ups, it's a lot of work, when you don't, you're trying to do this in your spare cycles, right? It's very hard. So what we tried to do was do smaller video content and do more write-ups, is what we were trying to do, and that's why we had the virtual trade show in the beginning, before we all left, so people can come out there and basically do that, but in like one show, so it's easier for our viewers to get a hold of them, right? And like I said, right here, you know, Mastages of Modern, they gave you a 2026 PCA Freight Show, I'm looking at it right now, so you got some coverage, you didn't get an interview, but 75% of the people didn't this year, and it's an evolving new format we're trying to do, and it's kind of like what you're doing with the small clips, that's what we're trying to work on, is using those small clips, because they reach further, and people enjoy them, because they're much shorter, it's a little bite, it's It's a TikTok generation that wants some little bites and not watch a seven, eight minute video, right?

So that's why we didn't come to the, or I wasn't there. I couldn't go this year for circumstances, but we couldn't cover everybody. It's just too much on us. Even with six of us there, it's too much.

So that's why nobody came by. It's not because you were selected to not. I mean, we didn't cover a ton of people firsthand like we used to. Well, Bear did come by and give me an award for ranking on his show in his top ten, you know, so, I mean, that's the ironic part of all of this, is Powstanie ranked on a lot of media coverage, a lot of media coverage.

Yeah. Not on Coops, which is fine, but you would think that, well, if maybe you're getting all this notoriety with all these other media sources, Maybe you're missing something and maybe I should have gotten the coverage, but I mean that's not my call, that's not my decision, it is what it is. He does whatever he wants to do. Right.

We are all separate entities in the Coop Coalition. Like I said, I have a review of the San Andreas Corona Gordon going up tomorrow or Wednesday at the late, and Coop's not telling me not to do it. he doesn't he doesn't care he doesn't mind but i'm gonna do it so i mean it's you're gonna get the coverage you know it is if you send a press release it's gonna be published definitely because i'm looking at them on the line right now on the website it's up there they're all there so if you said something and it's not covered reach out to coop or mermy and we'll take care we'll post it i mean because it's gonna it's not gonna be because we choose not to it's because But some circumstances, like he got lost in the shuffle or something like that. But that's what we're doing.

I mean, I just don't like the drama and shit. I don't consider everybody friends, everybody, you know, except maybe one person. But other than that, I mean, I want everybody to get along and be chill. The older I get, the more laid back and chill I get.

And I don't like anything like this. So, which is why, with a bottle of tea, I immediately reach out. And if you, if I ever do something to irritate one of y'all, reach out immediately, let me know. - You can irritate me on the other one, I won't reach out, you're not gonna hurt my feelings.

- Yeah, we don't care. - I know, I know where your heart is, dude, you're not gonna hurt my feelings, it's fine. - Well, I try to irritate y'all, but it didn't work. - We're pretty thick.

- Yeah, no shit. - We give each other an episode. - Yeah, thick. I hear that.

But that's the kind of paper I prefer, you know, giving each other some shit, you know, ribbing, because I find that funny, but, you know, it is what it is. I appreciate you, brother. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for at least for giving us the opportunity for you to kind of say your piece and say your side of things and give Coop my love.

I will. I don't know what else to say. I won't hug you for you, but I'll let it go. Yeah, don't hug him, for God's sakes, don't hug him.

If you could do like a nano-nano thing or something, that'd be great. An air high five or something. Yeah, I'll do that. All right, brother.

It's all cool. Enjoy the rest of your day. All right, man. Thanks.

Yeah, y'all too. I'll talk to y'all later. Bye. All right, so there you go.

Nothing was resolved. Well, it's never going to be resolved because he's never going to get on the phone. Right. And then them getting mad at you for something Skip said.

Because I posted it. Well, I mean, it's content for the show. Yeah, like, what are we doing? Well, we can't put up something because somebody on our show says something that someone else doesn't like.

Well, we're not doing that. We've been doing this for eight years. Everybody knows we don't do that. We say stuff to make people mad, let alone worrying about something Skip says to make somebody mad.

Well, 100%. I mean, we don't cut our own stuff out. True. And like you said, that clip thing is automated.

You might not even have seen that one. I hate to admit this, dude, but I was trying to put up those clips, and I started going through and editing them, and I fucking passed out. Oh, is that the one you said? " Computer in hand, just like this.

Like, just done. " And I was like, "You know what? Fuck it. " But, you know what?

With the exception of some of the curse words, because you didn't clip those out, I would have clipped them out of that clip. But other than that, I would have left it as is. So, whatever. All right.

All right. All right. Now, let's get back with the show. Get back to the show.

Time for the industry's favorite game, What's the Score? Today's first cigar, May 16, 2026, reviewed by Mr. Mr. Patrick Le Greed, Dominican Republic, Limited Edition, Wildfire Cigar Company, The Wildfire Dead Drift.

88. 82. Wildfire Dead Drift, Country of Origin, Dominican Republic, sorry, Factory, Undisclosed, Wrapper, Ecuador Habano, Binder, Sumatra, Filler, Nicaragua, Criojo & Criolo, 98. It's a 6x50 round cigar.

They smoked three. 88. 82. The draw and smoke production were solid across samples, with two of the three cigars offering nearly ideal resistance.

Oh. 86. Someone sleepy. No, I'm not.

82. I am. Clue number two, when the creaminess showed up, it helped smooth out the profile and brought in a nice melted vanilla ice cream note. Oh, sorry.

87. 82. Clue number three, combustion was the biggest problem with all three cigars needing repeated relights and struggling to stay lit unless puffed quickly. Oh, wow.

Like that, huh? 84. Eighty-two. He looked it up.

Final thought. I'm not sure what I was supposed to get from the wildfire dead drift, but I have to think that it wasn't what was intended. From the jump, the cigar was off with the first puff, funky and almost off-putting. If nothing less, it's concerning about what's to come.

While the second third does the best job with the profile, it's not perfect and never completely sheds the funkiness with the final third bringing it back, We're still third, bringing it back in a new spin, but with the same result. The flavor issues are one thing, but to compound it with combustion issues is a whole different problem. The combustion is a real letdown, as I have generally heard good things about what Wildfire has been up to. 77.

Yeah. You mean yeah, like you just did the same score? No. I remember smoking this at PCA a while.

Oh, did you? It's a new cigar that just came out. Did it? Really?

Not the brand, but the cigar. It's got a dead fish on the band. I thought you said 2016. Oh, did I say 2016?

It was up today. Oh, so it's 2026. 2026. Okay.

Oh, maybe not this one then, but I have smoked wildfire. Yes. And I can tell you this. And they're like, so I'm gonna go 75.

Oh. And you went 77? Mm-hmm. You guys split it, 76.

76. Oh, my God. Yes, yes, yes. What are the odds, huh?

I'll tell you what the odds are. I actually gave it a legitimate number, and he didn't want to go too low, so he went 75. Should have gone 76. Yeah, you should have.

Should have went 76. You big dummy. All right, second cigar, May 6, 2011, Charlie Monado, Arturo Fuente. I'm sorry.

It is the Opus X Phantom. Phantom. I don't remember, or I can't, I don't understand what you said in the beginning. It's number 11, Charlie Charlie Minato?

It's from 2011. Charlie Minato reviewed it. It's from Arturo Fuente. It's the Opus X Phantom.

Okay. Okay. Um... Okay.

Sorry, you confused. 85. Incredible. It's a phantom-like car.

'84. Fuente, Fuente, Opus X Phantom Batola. It's a Lancero. Oh.

This is a Dominican Chateau de la Fuente sun-grown, rosado. Binder, Dominican, Chateau de la Fuente, Sun Grown, Rosado. Filler, Dominican, Chateau de la Fuente, Sun Grown, Rosado. Country, Dominican Republic, Factory, Tablaculera, Fuente y...

Rosado. $30. And, oh, this is an old one. We cut it with a Zykar X5, a Zykar 15.

We lit it with a Calibri Boss 2. We smoked it for one hour and 50 minutes. Eighty-five. Eighty-eight.

Clue number one. Go ahead. The wrapper construction and appearance are top tier with consistent color, no imperfections, and that classic opus visual appeal. Eighty-six.

89. Clue number two. The final third delivers the best part of the experience with smooth, balanced flavors of cedar, black pepper, and an emerging sweet raisin and sugar notes. Uh-huh.

86. 85. You don't like sugar? Third and final clue.

The overall profile can feel underwhelming and inconsistent. Oh. Especially early on, with a tight draw and lack of complexity compared to other Opus X releases. Princess.

83. Peach. He like pauses on his so he's on camera more. You think so?

I think it's just to get his brain moving. And he's always looking to the side. 'Cause I'm looking at the screen. I have a job to do.

He's working. Oh, I'm sorry. 84. You can see my confusion.

84. Alright. Final third. This one is set up different.

It's an older review. A big mountain. I would like to sit here and say that this is a phenomenal cigar that exceeded my expectations. However.

And I cannot. With this much age, the reality is a cigar is far beyond its prime and a muted shell of its former self. Construction-wise, this cigar lives up to the name that is on the band. Flavor-wise, question mark.

This cigar could be better. There's no denying it. However, if you have the opportunity to pick up a single or two, likely in the Lost City form, I'd recommend it. Put it down for two or three years and enjoy.

You'll have a good cigar. Those somewhat in the know about Opuses universally admit that they need some time and yours truly thinks five years is about the normal time for most. The Phantom, at least for me, seems like it needs less and begins to decline at a moment. And it's a much quicker rate.

Mmm. Whatcha gonna do, Bootsy, Philly? That whole... When Charlie comes looking for you.

That whole blurb makes no sense. The whole blurb. Well, not to confuse you, but there is a long final score. Oh, that's not the final one?

No, no. That was it. That was the final clue, but the actual final score The score is explained and it's rather in depth. Yeah, I had to read it three times and I'm like, is it that number, that number, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever.

Okay, maybe like, maybe no like, five year, we find out. Hurry up, my wife's calling. 86. 85.

You went the wrong way. No. 87. Not a 94, not a 95 point, even without the price and difficulty in finding a regular bandit, Elvis Phantoms.

No. Stop with the high-pitched noises. Don't do high-pitched noises. These people have headphones on.

Like us. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Hey, much better. Much better.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Alright, anything else to add? 'Cause we gotta go. Yes.

What? No, I have nothing else to add. Alright, then go to me. Here it goes.

- Thank you very much, like and subscribe, wherever you want to listen to the show, we hope you got edutainment. - We're out of here. - All right, gotta go, bye.

Show Notes

On Todays Show The world takes another one…..Thats Not My mom!, Because Who Says So! ^ yrs that a long time without sex! Kash Patel gets a VIP bonus….Ill have dessert but make it fast! Do not eat those Fries!  And in Cigars We Have it out with a Mystery Guest phone Interview Then a double what’s the score for Tuesday!